Putin discusses with the two leaders “intensifying” Russian-Iranian cooperation

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Saturday with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi, the Kremlin announced, at a time when Tehran appears to be a key ally of Moscow in its intervention in Ukraine. The two leaders talked aboutseries of questions“Concerning Bilateral Relations between Iran and Russia”.Emphasis on increasing cooperation in the political, economic and commercial fieldsThe Russian presidency said in a press release.

The Kremlin specifies that Vladimir Putin and Ibrahim Al Raisi also discussed “Transportation and logisticsThe Russian and Iranian economies are subject to severe Western sanctions. The call comes as Vladimir Putin appears increasingly isolated on the international scene since launching his offensive on Ukraine at the end of February, which has since been marked by a series of defeats for the Russian military.

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Vladimir Putin has notably given up on going to the G-20 summit in Indonesia next week. And while China and India, usually Russia’s allies, say they are concerned about the conflict, Moscow and Tehran have begun a major rapprochement. Kyiv and its Western backers, particularly the Americans, accuse Russia of using Iranian-made drones on a large scale in Ukraine. Newspaper articles also reported possible deliveries of Iranian surface-to-surface missiles to Moscow, accusations denied by Tehran.

In early November, Iran admitted to supplying Russia with drones, but confirmed that these shipments were made before the attack in Ukraine. This week, the Secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, went to Tehran, where he held discussions on security cooperation between the two countries.